The Eyes of the Storm
by chillbook1
Summary: Storm, daughter of War and Pinkie Pie, is a strange little filly who sees things that others can't. Everypony believes that she is crazy, except for one mare who is a little on the fence. Now, she has to convince Scootaloo to believe her in order to rescue Storm's mother from the clutches of The Stuttering Queen of the Dead. Part of the Defenders of Harmony series. Mild violence
1. Medicated Baby Sitting

Author's Note: This story takes place a few years after Defenders of Harmony, thus fitting into the same universe and the same events of Alexandria the Great. If you haven't read either of them, I suggest you do so, just to give you background on the OCs used in this story. Anyway, read and review, if you enjoyed or have suggestions for me to do better.

* * *

Storm

"Hey! Storm!"

"Can it! Can't you see she's in the middle of something."

"But I need her!"

"Storm?"

"She's busy! Leave her alone!"

"Storm?"

"I don't care! She can talk to him after she helps out a friend!"

"Storm!" shouted the dark-skinned, bespectacled doctor with silver hair. "Are you alright?"

"Huh? Yeah, sorry. It's really loud in here." I said,

"Storm? My office had been silent since you got here. Are you having trouble focusing again?"

"Sort of." I said.

"Remember the exercise I taught you?"

"No."

"Start with your name, then get on to the more complex aspects of your life. I'll go first." he said. "I'm David Eccleston. I'm a human and a child psychiatrist. I help children and teenagers like yourself deal with their emotional and mental problems. I'm from Queens, New York, the U.S.A, Earth. I'm still recovering from my wife's death, but I'm getting over it. I'm here to help you get rid of your imaginary friends. Now it's your turn."

"Alright." I said, inhaling deeply. "I'm Storm Thompson. I'm half-human, half-pony. My human half is Russian-American and my pony side is pegasus. My parents are Robert Thompson and Pinkie Pie. I have ADHD, which is why we're doing this exercise in the first place. My best friends are Marceline and Spencer, who are at their other school on Earth right now. I was born in Ponyville and I live at Sugar Cube Corner, the best sweetshop in all of Equestria. My mom runs the place and my dad is a royal guard. I'm here because people think that I'm crazy. I'm not crazy."

"People don't think you're crazy." said Doctor E.

"Yes, they do. That's why my mom is sending me to these sessions. I'm not crazy, Doctor Eccleston." I said.

"I know you're not crazy."

"Then why are we here?" I asked.

"Your imaginary friends. We're here to figure out why you still talk to imaginary friends."

"It's fun to play pretend." I said.

"Yes, but you're 14 years old. Don't you think it's time to settle into reality?"

"I'm fine. It's just me acting. I know they're not real." I lied. I had to lie. They were real. And if anyone found out who my imaginary friends really were, they'd throw me in a padded cell.

"So you understand that you're not actually talking to anyone?" he asked.

"Of course."

"What's that supposed to mean? Are we not people to you?"

"Leave me alone." I muttered.

"And you can't hear them, right?" asked Doctor E.

"I need your help, Storm!"

"No, I can't hear them. They're not real." I answered.

"Oh, she can't hear us. Maybe we should talk louder! Storm! I need to talk to you!"

"So you can't hear your friends and they can't hear you?" asked the doctor.

"Storm!"

"Yes! Yes I can hear them! I don't understand how you can't!" I outburst. Whoops. I should not have said that.

"Storm?" asked the doctor. "Did you take the medication I prescribed for you?"

"No, Doc, I did not." I said.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not a schitzo! I'm not taking your crazy people pills because I'm not crazy!"

"Storm, you should calm down. I gave you that medication to help you stop hearing voices that aren't there."

"Doctor, I swear to you that I'm not crazy. I'm sorry I got so angry. I just don't like taking the pills. The ADHD medication is bad enough." I said, running my hands through my blue and black mane.

"Why don't you like taking the schizophrenia medication?" he asked.

"It makes me feel bad. When I take it, it gets hard for me to see and I shake really badly." I said, grasping my face with my palms. "I get really tired but can't fall asleep. It just leaves me with a sort of emptiness inside. That's not even all of them. If you gave me a week, I couldn't list off the negative side-effects."

"Does it help with your friends?"

"No." I said. "There's nothing to help with. They're just imaginary friends."

"Storm, you have to take your meds."

"No! I'm not going to take the pills!" I shouted. Suddenly, the door flew open and my mom rushed in.

"Is everything okay?" she asked. "I heard shouting."

"Everything's fine, Pinkie." said the doctor, checking his watch. "I think we're out of time. Pinkie, I'm going to write a prescription for an antipsychotic medication that Storm should be taking twice a day. Now, she says she experiences negative side-effects, so please monitor her behavior when taking it. If these effects get too bad, just give me a call and we'll work something out."

"Okey-doke, doctor." said Mom, clasping my shoulder. "Let's go, Storm."

"Okay, Mom." I said, getting from the couch. I left his office quietly, trying to ignore my friends.

"Storm! Why are you ignoring me?" asked that same stallion.

"I can't talk right now." I whispered.

"What did you say, Storm?" asked Mom.

"Nothing." I said. We walked downtown in silence and got in line for the train.

"Storm!" shouted that stallion.

I never truly introduced myself. I'm Storm. I assure you, I'm not crazy. People think, because of my ADHD and the explosive personality that I inherited from my mother, that I'm loco in the coco. I swear, I'm not. I have friends that nopony else can see. No, they're not a figment of my imagination. I used to think that I was imagining things, but I've learned over the last five years that my friends were real. My friends were very real. Or rather, they were at some point. You see, I don't hear and see imaginary people. I hear and see dead people.

"Storm!"

I liked them. Most of them were really nice and friendly. A lot of times, it was a lot of fun to talk to them about the past.

"Storm!"

Other times, I wish I could get them to shut up.

* * *

Scootaloo

I looked at Applebloom with fiery determination. I was not letting her win this contest. This would decide who was on toilet-scrubbing duty for the next week.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Always." I answered.

"3" she counted.

"2"

"1"

"Stare!" I shouted, gazing into Applebloom's eyes. We stared at each other without wavering for two minutes before I saw her eyes begin to water. I was winning.

"Give up, Applebloom." I gloated. "You're not winning this." Without warning, she blew a puff of air into my eyes. I closed my eyes out of reflex and shouted in alarm.

"Ah win." she said.

"No, you don't! You cheated!" I shouted angrily.

"Nuh-uh!"

"You totally did!"

"You sorta did." said Sweetie Belle, firing her rifle at the targets.

"Ah never cheated a day in mah life!" said Applebloom.

"Well, you started today." I complained.

"You callin me a liar?"

"Maybe I am!" I said. We looked at each other angrily for about twenty seconds before Applebloom shoved me to the ground. As I fell, I grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her down with me. She fell on my chest and we wrestled on the ground. Sweetie Belle never even looked up. To us, this was just another day at the office.

"Ah ain't no liar!" she cried as I rolled her onto her back. "And Ah definitely ain't no cheater!"

"Yes you are!" I yelled, pinning her shoulders to the ground. She struggled to break free for a while before she gave up. I won. I leaned forward and kissed her softly on the lips.

"Get a room, you two." said Sweetie Belle.

"You're just jealous that Jack doesn't kiss you like that." I said, letting my filly friend go.

"Jack kisses me! Just not in front of everypony."

"No he doesn't." said Applebloom, getting to her hooves. "I don't think Ah've never seen Jack even try to kiss you before. How long have ya'll been dating? A year or so?"

"Yes, and we've snogged plenty of times!" said Sweetie. She was getting a little upset, which meant that it was working.

"Snogged? What's that?" I asked.

"It means 'kiss'. It's something I learned about when we visited his mom in London."

"If you say so, Sweetie Belle." said Applebloom.

"Hm." she grunted. "Anyway, what do we do now?"

"I don't know. Did the General give us any assignments?" I asked.

"I'm about to." said a black stallion who walked in the bunker. He had straight, blood-red hair, and as soon as we saw him, we stood up straight and saluted.

"You guys don't have to salute me. We're equal in rank, remember?" he said.

"Oh yeah." I said. "Well, what's up?"

"Oh my God, I'm in bad trouble." he said, scratching his head.

"What did you do?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"I didn't do anything. I'm sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place."

"Why?" I asked.

"Oh, this sucks! I have to do something and if I do it I can't do something else that needs to be done! I have two equally important problems and I can't deal with them both. I need your help."

"What do you need us to do?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"Not you, Sweetie. Just Scootaloo." he said.

"Huh? Why me?" I asked.

"My daughter Storm has a little issue. She has schizophrenia. I'm worried that Pinkie won't be able to take care of her properly alone, so I need you to help her out."

"I remember Storm. How come it has to be me?" I asked.

"Well, like I said, she has schizophrenia, so she might freak out sometimes. You're her favorite, Scoots, so I figure she'll react better to you."

"Why can't you send her to your parents?" I asked.

"My dad is serving the first of three consecutive life sentences in prison and my mom is in a mental institute, presumably because of whatever it is my dad did. They're kind of tied up." he answered. "Listen, I'll pay you overtime, I just really need to deal with this thing. Me and Conjure have a little project that need our complete, undivided attention."

"Is this like when he turned you into a kitten?" I asked angrily.

"He was aiming for a lion!" he said. "I'm really sorry, Scoots, but you're the only one I trust to do this. No offence girls."

"Are you sure that nopony else can do this?" I asked. I was trying my hardest to get out of this.

"No. It has to be you." said General War. I looked at Applebloom then back at the General.

"Ugh. Fine. I'll do it." I said. That was the closest I've ever seen to the General jumping with joy.

"Scootaloo, you're a life saver!" he said. "Do you need a ride?"

"Nah. I'll take the train." I said grumpily. "Can you give me a minute? I want to talk with the girls alone."

"Of course." he said, running out of the room. "Thank you!"

"Yeah, yeah." I said.

"Scootaloo… " said Applebloom.

"Babe, I know I promised I'd spend the entire weekend with you, but I'm sorry. I have to do this." I said. "Please don't be mad at me."

"Ah'm not mad." she said quietly.

"I know that makes me a liar, but please don't be mad."

"Ah'm not mad." said Applebloom.

"I'll make it up to you next week, I promise, just don't be mad."

"Ah'm not mad!" she shouted.

"Oh. Thanks for understanding." I said. "I'll call you?"

"Ya damn well better." said Applebloom, ushering me out of the door. "Go deal with Storm, ya hear?"

"Yes, ma'am!" I said, heading for the exit. "I'll be back as soon as I can."


	2. A Visit From Friends

Storm

It was pretty late by the time we got home, about 7 p.m., so instead of trying to make dinner, Mom just ordered a pizza. I ran upstairs as soon as we got home so I could talk to my friends.

"I'll call you when the food gets here!" shouted Mom.

"Okay!" I answered, closing and locking my bedroom door.

"Storm!" shouted that stallion.

"Sorry, mister." I said, sitting on my bed. "I couldn't talk with my mom and doctor around." I closed my eyes and concentrated. When I opened them, there was a green stallion and an orange mare in my bedroom. They were clad in black trench coats and their faces were covered with piercings. They were both very thin and seemed sort of gothic and depressing, even for the dead.

"So you can hear me!" said the unicorn that had been trying to get my attention.

"I'm so sorry. I had to ignore you or my mom would think I was crazy." I said. "What did you need?"

"Um… I don't remember." said the unicorn, scratching his hand through his blonde mane. "Whoops! My bad!"

"Even in death, you're a complete idiot." said the Earth pony mare, straightening her blonde bang that covered her left eye.

"Is this your sister?" I asked.

"Unfortunately." she said. "I apologize for my idiot brother."

"Everyone makes mistakes." I said. "Who are you guys?"

"I'm Rick." said the stallion.

"I'm Ana." said the mare.

"Hi. I'm Storm, which I guess you know already. How are you two?" I asked.

"We're pretty okay for dead people." said Ana.

"Can I ask you how you guys died? Some people don't want to talk about it, so I understand if you don't."

"Hm… Let's see. It's been a while." said Rick. "Um… Oh yes! I died ten years ago at a party. I was drinking a lot and I got into a fight with some guy who was hitting on Ana. The fight got out of hand and he stabbed me. I died from blood-loss."

"And I drank bleach because my stupid brother died." said Ana. "As much as I hate to say it, I love him. I couldn't go on without him."

"Awww! That's sweet!" I said. "And sort of macabre."

"Yeah, well, that's just how things are when you're dead." said Rick. "Who exactly are you, little filly? All I know is that you're called Storm."

"I'm a spirit medium." I said. "I can see and talk to the dead. Like you guys."

"How come you were ignoring me earlier?"

"If my mom or my psychiatrist found out that I could talk to you guys, they'd think I was crazy. No one can ever find out."

"Storm!" called Mom. "Pizza's here!"

"Coming Mom!" I shouted back. "Listen guys, I have to go. I'm going to make it so I can't see you, like I did at the doctor's office. I'll be back later. If you ever need someone to talk to, you can always come find me, okay?"

"Sure thing." said Ana. "Bye, Storm!"

"Yeah, later, Storm!" called Rick as I ran downstairs to the dining room. My mom had changed into her favorite pink sweatpants and a pink-hearted tank top. She dropped the box of pizza onto the table and passed me a plate. I took a slice of the extra-cheese, super-delicious, awesome pizza and bit into it.

"Storm." said Mom. "We have to talk." Oh no. There was pizza and my mom wasn't slamming her face into a slice. That meant we were going to talk about my "condition".

"What is it, Mom?" I asked.

"I need you to take your pills." she said.

"I don't wanna." I said, taking another bite.

"I don't want to make you, but Doctor Eccleston said that you need to."

"Mom, who am I hurting by playing pretend?"

"Yourself. You don't sleep, you don't eat and you've even been cutting yourself. Don't you remember?" she asked worriedly.

"No." I said. Of course, there was no way for me to remember that. That was when I accidently let a spirit into my body. I lost twenty minutes that day and I woke up with bloody wrists.

"See? You need to take the pills."

"I'm not going to." I said. "The pills don't help, anyway."

"Please? For me?" she begged.

"Will it really make you happy?" I asked.

"Yes. I want you to get better."

"Fine. Give them here." I said. Mom jumped from the table and ran into the kitchen. She returned holding a glass of water and a pill bottle. She opened it and passed me a little sea green pill.

"Look, Storm, they're the same color as your eyes." said Mom.

"Ha. Cool." I chuckled. I took a deep breath and I placed the pill in my mouth. I washed it down with the water and instantly felt terrible. My vision began to blur and my hands trembled uncontrollably. I slumped down into my chair and groaned uncomfortably.

"Storm? Are you alright?" she asked.

"No. Can you bring me to my room?" I asked.

"Piggyback ride!" squealed Mom, throwing me onto her back. She carried me to my bedroom and tucked me in my bed.

"Dad should be getting home soon." I said.

"Yes." said Mom, kissing my forehead. "I think he's on his way. Do you need anything?"

"No. I just need to get some rest." I said. My mom nodded then bounced out of the room, her usual excitement and joy back in her. I was doing a good thing. I could deal with the discomfort if it made my mom happy. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to see my friends again. Sitting on my bed was Rick and Ana.

"Hey, Storm." said Ana.

"Hi. What's going on?" I asked weakly.

"You okay, kid?" asked Rick.

"Yeah. I'm going to be feeling a little run down for a while, so I apologize if I get a little boring. I understand if you want to go talk to somepony else."

"You're the only living thing we can talk to." said Ana. "We wouldn't leave even if we wanted to."

"I have a question. How did you find me?" I asked.

"Um… I know a guy who knows a guy who heard from another guy that there was a little filly that we could talk to named Storm." said Rick.

"Oh. People are talking about me?"

"Yup. You're the only spirit medium alive, so you're getting sort of famous in the Spirit World."

"Really? Cool." I said. "I've never heard much about the Spirit World. Do you guys have a government? With a leader?"

"Sort of…" said Ana, looking over her shoulder uncomfortably.

"Who?"

"We're not allowed to say. Whenever someone says her name, something bad happens." said Rick.

"Interesting." I said drowsily. "I hate to leave you two like this, but I need to sleep. Goodnight, Rick. Goodnight, Ana"

* * *

Scootaloo

I was on the Crystal Train to Ponyville for an hour and a half, thoroughly pissed the entire way. Don't get me wrong, Storm was the sweetest little filly. She was super nice and really funny, and I taught her to fly, so we had some history, but I really was looking forward to my weekend with Applebloom. We'd been arranging it all week. After we clocked out, we'd go to our special cabin on Earth in the Forest of Dean (some place in Europe. Sweetie Belle and Jack had dragged us there one winter and it ended up being pretty nice.) Then we'd relax and talk, maybe watch a movie and… well, you know. Romantic lover stuff. Too bad for us, I gave that all up to watch Storm.

BZZZ!

I got a text. From Applebloom. Of course. Even though she said she wasn't mad, she must've been pissed.

"Don't worry bout a thing Scoots." I read under my breath. "We'll make it up next time we get together. Ain't it going to be better later, now that you had to wait?" She was so understanding. And sort of teasey.

"I guess so." I typed back. Just then, the train arrived at the station. I left behind the mob of ponies and humans and made my way towards Sugar Cube Corner. On my way, I checked my phone for the time. It was 7:30 p.m. when I arrived at the sweetshop.

"Pinkie?" I asked as I walked in the shop. As soon as I closed the door, Pinkie jumped over the counter.

"Robert's home!" she cried, grabbing me up in a back-breaking hug.

"Pinkie!" I gasped. "It's me! Scootaloo!"

"Whoops!" she said, letting me go. Then, she grabbed me up in an even tighter hug. "Scootaloo's home!"

"What are you talking about?" I asked, wriggling free. "I don't live here!"

"I know, silly! It's been ages since we last talked!"

"Pinkie, me and Applebloom came here two weeks ago! It's nice to see you, though." I said with a smile. Pinkie always had a way of making me feel better. That was her special talent, after all.

"What are you doing here?" asked Pinkie.

"Um… The General is sort of tied up." I said. "He said you might need some help with Storm, so he sent me."

"That's super duper nice of you!" she said, hugging me excitedly.

"Please stop breaking my ribs!" I gasped. She let me go, allowing me to breathe for the first time since I walked in the shop. "Anything you need me to do?"

"Um… Well, I have an order that needs to get done soon and I would love it so, so much if I could focus on that while you keep an eye on Storm."

"Sure thing." I said. "Is she upstairs?"

"Yes, but she's probably asleep. You can go and see if she's up, but please let her rest."

"Okay." I walked upstairs into Storm's brightly decorated bedroom. There were balloons and streamers plastering the walls and a pink dresser drawer with a heart-shaped mirror to the right of the little pink bed. Lying in the bed was a black filly with blue and black swirled hair, poofy and explosive like Pinkie's. I sat down at the foot of her bed and waited for her to wake up.

"Rick? Ana?" she asked, not opening her eyes. What? Rick and Ana? That can't be.

"Storm?" I asked.

"Guys, I'm trying to get a little rest. In the morning, I swear it'll be Storm-Rick-and-Ana time." she said.

"How do you know about Rick and Ana?" I asked.

"Huh?" she said, opening her eyes. "Eep! How long were you sitting there?"

"Long enough to be very confused. How do you know about Rick and Ana?" I said.

"I don't know. Do you know them?" she asked evasively.

"Ana's an orange Earth pony, right? Blonde mane?"

"Yeah."

"Super-sexy eyes?"

"Huh?"

"Me and her dated for a while." I said.

"Why'd you break up?"

"She killed herself. Before you were born. And her brother was Rick, who died before her. So, how do you know about them?"

"I don't. I'm just playing pretend." she said.

"Pretending to talk to my dead ex girlfriend and her dead brother, who's also dead?"

"Yup. They're not anyone real. Just ponies I invented. It's a huge coincidence."

"Hm. What's up with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I heard you have some stuff going on."

"Everypony thinks I'm crazy." she said, sitting up in bed.

"Why?"

"Because… I do things that make me seem a little bit crazy."

"That's a pretty good reason." I said. "Are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Crazy."

"I don't think so. If I am, it's not for the reason everypony thinks." she said, rubbing her eyes. "Do you think I'm crazy?"

"I'm not sure. I've met your parents, so it's totally possible." I joked. "What are you doing in bed so early?"

"My meds make me really tired." she said, jumping out of bed.

"Then why are you up?"

"I can't sleep."

"I thought you said the meds made you tired."

"They do. They also keep me up. It's a vicious cycle." she said, stretching. "Oh, and sometimes I get random fits of narcolepsy. If I pass out for no real reason, don't worry. I'll be up soon."

"Oh. What do we do now?"

"Well, I guess we can-" she began, before falling face-down on her bed. I grabbed her by the shoulders and she jumped into attention.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"Yup! Random flares of narcolepsy!" said Storm. "These pills are terrible and I wish I could stop taking them."

"Why don't you?"

"My mom needs me to take my schizophrenia pills, or I cut myself apparently. It sucks, but Mom said she needs me to take them.

"Storm, what are you hiding from me?"

"What makes you think I'm hiding something?"

"I can tell when somepony has secrets. Something is going on with you and you're afraid to tell me." I said. "We may not know each other too well, but you can always talk to me."

"Thanks, Scootaloo." she said, slowing down. She sat back down on her bed wearily. "Oh my. I'm getting tired again."

"How long do these side-effects last?"

"As long as I'm on the pills. They get a little better over time, though."

"Okay. I'll let you get some sleep. See you in the morning." I said, leaving her room. I closed the door and leaned against the wall.

RIIING!

My phone erupted into light and noise. I could tell without even looking who was calling. I put the phone to my ear.

"Sup, Bloom?" I asked.

"Nothin. How's it goin over there?" she asked.

"Um… weirdly. I think my ex is here."

"Huh? You think?"

"She's here but I can't see her. I'm not even sure that she's actually real."

"You alright, Scoots? You startin to sound a might crazy."

"I know. It's not me. It's Storm. Something's up with her and I want to know what." I said. "Look, I'm really sorry about skipping out on our date. I know you said you're not mad, but I feel awful. I was really looking forward to it."

"Ah know, so was Ah. Just understand, Scoots, you gonna make this up. Ah'll make sure of it."

"How can I do that?"

"Let's just say that you should get some endurance training before you come back." she said.

"Yes ma'am!" I said excitedly. "I'll talk to you later. Bye."

"Yes, that was Scootaloo." I heard Storm say from inside her room. "Did you two really go out?" I pressed my ear against the door, eager to grab every word. Silence followed for a few seconds, then she started up again.

"What was your first date?" she asked nopony. Our first date was a monster truck rally. If she answered right, I would be very scared.

"I've always wanted to go to a monster truck rally. Did you two have a good time?" Yes, we did. It was weird near the end, though. We almost got ran over, so I punched the driver in the face.

"She did not punch him in the face!" laughed Storm. "You're kidding!"

"This is weird." I said to myself. "I'm gonna get to the bottom of this."


	3. An Orphan's Wish

Storm

When I woke up in the morning, I was visited by some old friends. A blue mare and orange stallion, both Earth ponies, were sitting on my bed. They looked at me with smiles on their faces, clearly happy to see me.

"Mr. Cake! Mrs. Cake!" I said in excitement. "How are you?"

"We're fine, deary." said Mrs. Cake. "How are you?"

"I'm okay, I guess. My mom is making me take those stupid pills again, so that's no fun. At least I can see you guys still. I don't know what I'd do if the pills actually worked." I said. "What brings you here?"

"We wanted to check up on Pinkie and the twins. How are they?" asked Mr. Cake.

"My mom is good, and Pound and Pumpkin are doing well. They're in college now, as I'm sure you know. They should be going on semester break soon, and when they do, they're coming down for a visit!"

"That's wonderful." said Mrs. Cake happily. "I'm glad to see that they're still doing well in school."

"Mrs. Cake? You know I'm a spirit medium, right?"

"Yes, dear, we know. How else could you talk to us?"

"Well, spirit medium's abilities aren't limited to seeing the dead. I can also channel your spirits into my body. You can use my body to talk to my mom. Would you like to?"

"No. I don't think I can do it." said Mrs. Cake.

"Me neither." chimed her husband.

"Huh? Why not? You'd be able to talk to her freely for about twenty minutes, then I have to rest a day." I said.

"We're dead, Storm, and we've come to terms with that." said Mr. Cake. "Once you're dead, you don't want the temptation of life. It's unfair. We don't like the teasing."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "It doesn't hurt, and it'll make Mom feel better."

"Trust us." said Mrs. Cake. "The dead prefer to stay that way. Living when you're not supposed to is wrong. It's best for everypony that we stay in the Spirit World."

"Hm. If you say so." I said. Then, I remembered what Rick and Ana said about the Spirit World. "Hey, do you guys have a leader or something?"

"Yes." said Mr. Cake uneasily. "We don't talk about her very much."

"Who is she? I've been able to see the dead for so long and I didn't even know there was a leader until yesterday."

"Her name is sort of taboo. Whenever we talk about her, something terrible happens."

"Like what?"

"We lose each other." said Mrs. Cake. "She'll split us up and we won't be able to find each other."

"For how long?"

"It's different every time. First time we lost each other, we were wandering around alone for over a year. It was terrible."

"I'm sorry to hear that." I said. "My new friends told me that, too."

"You mean us?" asked Ana, stepping through the open door, Rick walking in behind her. "How you doing, kiddo?"

"I'm good. Do you guys know each other?" I asked.

"Of course we know the Cakes." said Rick. "Ana and Scootaloo would drag me over to Sugar Cube Corner all the time."

"What are you talking about? You insisted on coming with us, because you were afraid that Scootaloo was going to do something shady." said Ana. "Don't know why. Scootaloo was the cutest little filly. She could never hurt anypony."

"It's been a while since we talked." said Mr. Cake. "How are you guys?"

"Oh, I don't know. All of eternity hanging around with this idiot isn't as bad as you'd think." said Ana. "We have our good times, our bad times, times where I wish there was less time."

"What time is it?" I asked nopony in particular. I looked out of the window and, judging by the sun, it had to be past 8. Which meant I was late for school. I leapt out of bed and ran out the room in my pajamas. I got no more than three steps into the hall before Scootaloo grabbed me.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" she asked.

"School. I'm late." I said.

"Slow your roll. It's Saturday, remember?"

"Huh? Is it really?"

"Yes. But if you really want to go somewhere, I'm going out for a fly. If you hurry and get changed, you're welcome to join me." she said, shoving her hands in her jeans.

"Sure thing." I said. "Just give me a moment." I walked back in my room and closed my door behind me.

"What's up?" asked Ana.

"I'm going flying with Scootaloo. I'll be back soon." I said. "Er… can you guys please turn around? I have to change and… you know… I'll be naked."

"Oh. Sorry!" said Rick, turning his back. Everypony else did the same, making the room safe. I grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt from out of my drawer. I shimmied down into my birthday suit (all my undies were in the wash) and slipped into my clothes. The sweatpants were comfortable and the shirt covered up how chubby I was getting, so that was good.

"You can turn around now." I said. "I'll be back soon, probably fifteen minutes. I won't be able to see you when I'm gone, so please don't try to talk to me until I give the okay."

"Alrighty." said Rick. "See you later."

"Bye, guys." I said. I pushed open the door and told Scootaloo I was ready to go.

"You ready?" she asked.

"Yup. Let's go!" I said excitedly. We walked downstairs and were headed for the door when Mom flagged us down.

"Wait!" she said, dragging a cart with a large wedding cake on it. "Storm, do you have your pills?"

"No." I said grumpily.

"I got them." said Scootaloo, flashing the pill bottle. "I'll make sure she takes them."

"Okey-dokey-lokey. She has to take them by noon." said Mom. "Have fun, you two! I have to go deliver this cake. See you guys later."

"Bye, Mom." I said, leaving the shop with Scootaloo in the lead. As soon as we got outside, we took off into the crisp morning sky.

"Wanna go anywhere in particular?" she asked, hovering just above cloud level.

"Nope. Let's just go somewhere. I need some fresh air before I take the pills."

"About that." she said. She started flying towards the library where Zecora lived. Right above the large treehouse, Scootaloo stopped at a cloud and motioned for me to sit down.

"What's up?" I asked, plopping my butt on the fluffy cloud.

"I know your secret." she said, crossing her arms.

"You do?" I asked, positive that she would guess wrong.

"Yup. And I have a favor to ask."

* * *

Scootaloo

"What's your favor?" asked Storm.

"I'm an orphan. You're a spirit medium. You do the math." I said.

"Eep! You do know!"

"Yes, and I want to talk to my mom. Can you make it happen?" I asked.

"Are you sure you want to?"

"Duh. Why would I not?" I asked. "If I can talk to my mom, of course I want to. Can you make it happen?"

"I dunno…"

"I'll throw away your pills and say we got mugged." I said. She looked at me with interest, then let out a deep sigh.

"Alright. We should go back to Sugar Cube Corner. It works best when I'm at home." she said, dropping through the cloud. I jumped into the air in excitement, then flew down to meet her. I was going to see my mom! My real mom! Rainbow Dash and Applejack were great parents, but I always wanted to know about my real parents. At the orphanage, I was told that my mom died after giving birth to me and my dad fell off the face of the earth even before that. I was curious and wanted some answers.

"What tipped you off?" she asked, walking alongside me back to the shop. I wasn't sure I could even fly, I was so anxious.

"I heard you talking to Rick and Ana. That was the first clue. Then, you were talking to the Cakes, and I knew there wasn't anypony else you could be talking about, so I took a shot and said you could speak to the dead."

"You don't think I'm crazy?" she asked hopefully.

"I think you're nuts. But, you're part human, so maybe you have some weird magic that nopony has ever seen." I answered. "I'm willing to suspend my logic and disbelief if it means I might maybe have a small chance to talk to my mom. Is that pathetic?"

"Yes. But in the best way possible." We didn't say much else until we got back to the shop. When we arrived a short minute later, Storm led me back to her room. She sat on her bed and closed her eyes. When she opened them, they were different. Her normally green-blue eyes had become a dark fuchsia.

"What's up with your eyes?" I asked uncomfortably.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "What's wrong with them?"

"They changed color!"

"Really?" she asked, looking into the mirror. "Does this always happen?"

"I've never seen it before." I said.

"Not you Scootaloo. The others." she said. After a moment's pause, she continued. "Relax, guys, Scootaloo already knows. In fact, I'm here to help her out right now."

"Who are you talking to?"

"Rick and Ana." she said. "Ana said that she misses you. She apologizes for leaving you the way she did."

"Yeah, well, I've had ten years to get over it." I said. "Can we get this thing started? I don't know how long Pinkie will be gone."

"Yes. First things first: We need a rope." she said, flipping forward and peering under her bed.

"For what?"

"To hold me down." she replied, yanking a length of rope from under her bed. She laid down on her back and passed it to me.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked.

"Isn't your mom a cowgirl? She had to have taught you something about ropes."

"She's not a cowgirl." I said, rolling my eyes. "But, yeah, she taught me how to tie a mean knot."

"Good. Tie me down as tight as you can and make sure that I can't get out." I did as I was told and bound her to the bed. When I was sure she couldn't move, I looked at her for instruction.

"Anything else weird you need me to do?" I asked.

"Nope. Just sit tight and don't let me go. I don't know who your mom is, so it is very important that you don't let me go. I won't be able to control myself for a few minutes, and if your mom is crazy, she might hurt you. Promise you won't let me go."

"I promise." I said.

"Pinkie Promise."

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." I said half-heartedly. "Can we get on with it?"

"Okey-doke!" she said, closing her eyes once more. Her body relaxed and fell limp, as if she was asleep. A second later, she opened them, now cyan in color. She looked very confused and a little bit scared.

"What's going on?" she asked in alarm. "Where am I?"

"Storm? Is that you?" I asked.

"No. I'm Morning Bloom. Who are you?" she asked. Morning Bloom. That's what they told me her name was.

"Mom?" I asked, dropping onto the bed.

"Scootaloo?"

"Mom!" I said, tears breaking free from my eyes. "Are you serious? Is it really you?"

"Yes." she said, struggling in the ropes. "What's going on? Why am I tied up? How am I here?"

"I have a friend who can speak with the… Oh my gosh." I said, grasping it for the first time. "You're dead. I'm talking to my dead mother."

"Yes, I know I'm dead. I was there." she said with a smile. I don't know why, but that made me laugh so hard that I started to cry.

"You're so funny!" I laughed.

"Your father used to say the same thing."

"Can you tell me about dad?" I asked. She fell quiet, as if someone had revealed an embarrassing secret.

"Your father was a unicorn. Pretty smart, strong and muscular. Wonderful purple eyes. He was kind and tender, once you got to know him." she said, looking away.

"How'd you two meet?"

"I stole his lunch money!" she laughed. "I was sort of a bully in school. I took his lunch money and the next day he hung me upside down with his magic until I promised not to pick on anypony else."

"He sounds so cool." I said dreamily.

"Yeah, he was. Before you ask, I don't know what happened to him. If he's dead, I haven't been able to find him in the Spirit World."

"Oh." I said, looking down sadly. Then I came to my senses. Why was I sad? My mom was here!

"Scootaloo? Can you let me go?" she asked.

"But I promised Storm that I wouldn't untie you. She said something bad would happen." I answered.

"I'm your mother, for Celestia's sake. I won't do anything. I just want to hug you."

"Really?" I asked, tears threatening to overflow again.

"Of course. I love you, baby girl." she said. At that sentence, I broke. I grabbed at the knot and quickly began to untie.

"I don't know how much longer you have in that body." I said, ripping the ropes off of her. She sat up and stretched out her arms.

"Don't worry about me. I want to know about you. Did you ever get adopted?" she asked.

"Yes, when I was 17. Late, I know, but it was okay. Two of the most awesome mares in all of Equestria took me in."

"Who?"

"Rainbow Dash and Applejack. You probably don't know them. Aj is an Earth pony and Rainbow Dash moved away from Cloudsdale before school started, so you couldn't have met them." I said.

"I know them, all right." she replied bitterly. "Anyway, how about that hug?"

"Yes!" I said happily, tears flowing from my eyes once more. I flung my arms into the air and stepped forward towards my mom.

WHAM!

Her fist collided with my face, knocking me onto my butt. She ran out of the room, stumbling along the way. I leapt to my hooves and followed her angrily. I chased close behind as she slid down the stairs and towards the kitchen. She stopped by the oven, apparently looking for something, when I caught up to her.

"What was that?" I asked angrily.

"Oh, you stupid l-l-little filly, you! Looking for a hug from M-m-mommy." she stammered. "Oh no. The s-s-stutter is b-b-b-back."

"I'm home!" called Pinkie, opening the front door. "Hi, house! How are you today?"

"P-p-pinkie." said my mom. She shoved past me and made her way downstairs. She ran up to Pinkie who scooped her up in a hug as my mom grabbed her by face.

"What are you doing?" asked Pinkie.

"You're c-c-coming with me, Stinkie Pie." said my mom.

"Sunset Shimmer!" exclaimed Pinkie, before both of their bodies fell limp and unmoving to the floor. It looked like somepony had smacked them both over the head with a baseball bat.

"What happened?" asked Storm, sitting up slowly. Her eyes returned to their normal seagreen color as she scratched her head in confusion.

"My mom just punched me in the face." I said, rubbing my muzzle softly. "Then she ran up to Pinkie and grabbed her face. Your mom isn't moving."

"Oh no! Did my mom say anything before she fell?" she asked, checking Pinkie's pulse.

"She screamed 'Sunset Shimmer', which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Sunset Shimmer is… dead." I said.

"What exactly happened?" she asked, terrified.

"My mom, she said she wanted a hug, so I untied her and… well, that happened."

"My mom's heart isn't beating." she said as she got to her hooves. She kept her back to me, stifling her tears.

"Oh, no! She's dead?"

"No. She's gone." said Storm. She turned over her shoulder and looked at me with her dark pink eyes that showed that she could see into the Spirit World.

"What do you mean?"

"Rick, Ana, did you see Sunset Shimmer run past here dragging my mom?" she asked the air, ignoring me completely. After a few seconds of silence, she exhaled a puff of breath. "Yeah, I figured."

"What?" I asked. "What did they say?"

"They said that they couldn't talk about it. Whenever somepony brought her up, something bad happened."

"What about Pinkie?"

"We go after her, of course." she said.

"After her? Where?"

"Somewhere we don't belong. We're going somewhere no mortal has ever gone before. Exciting, huh?" she said, making a face that was something like a grimacing smile. "Let's get ready for an adventure!"


	4. Weapons Against The Dead

Storm

"Help me get my mom upstairs." I said, grabbing her under the arms.

"Okay." said Scootaloo, grabbing her ankles. We heaved my mom up from the ground and dragged her up the stairs to my bed. We placed her down gently, and I covered her with my pink bedsheet. I pressed my fingers to the side of her neck one more time, just to confirm what I already knew. Nothing. I felt my spirit sink as I led my hand to her chest, where her non-beating heart was.

"Scootaloo, why did you let me go?" I asked. "I thought you Pinkie Promised not to let me go."

"I just wanted to give her a hug. Is that so wrong?" she asked.

"Yes, especially since it wasn't your mom. You just got me, you and my mom in a situation that I'd rather none of us be in. You broke your Pinkie Promise!"

"I know, I messed up, but I had to. That was my mom!" she said.

"No, that was an old enemy of my mom. She's gone now." I said sadly. Rick and Ana ran into the room, looking terrified. They stopped in front of me and snapped to get my attention.

"Storm! I know what you're going to do, and all I can say is 'don't'. That is unbelievably dangerous, and a little bit stupid." said Rick.

"Dangerous? Probably. Stupid? Almost definitely. But it has to happen." I said.

"What exactly is going to happen?" asked Scootaloo.

"We're going to the Spirit World to get my mom back from Sunset Shimmer. What else?" I said. "Are you ready?"

"What? No! Storm, you're cool and all, and I'd love to see my Scootsy again, but you can't come in here! You two are mortals! You'll die in here!" said Ana.

"Scootsy?" I asked. "Is that what you called her?"

"Um…" said Scootaloo, blushing. "Does she still remember that?"

"Of course I do, Scootsy." said Ana. "Ooh, I can't wait to see her. I mean, if you guys are crazy enough to enter this world."

"We have to. Sunset Shimmer kidnapped my mom." I said, dropping onto the floor. This would take some concentration and more than a bit of energy.

"Don't say her name!" hissed Rick.

"Will you explain to me exactly what is happening?" said Scootaloo frustratedly.

"Okay. When I went to channel your mom's spirit into my body, I got hijacked so to speak. Sunset Shimmer took over my body and pretended to be your mom. When you let her free, she punched you in the face and booked it. Now, I think she was headed for Silver Rift, but she knew she didn't have time for that, so she took my mom instead." I said, closing my eyes and concentrating. I had to remember how to do this. I went to the Spirit World only once before this, and it was an accident.

"Where did Shimmer take her?"

"The Spirit World." I said. "Come here."

"For what?" she asked, uneasily trotting towards me. I reached up and grabbed her left hand.

"Ana, Scootaloo should be able to hear you now." I said.

"Scootsy?" asked Ana softly. "Can you hear me?"

"Ana!" exclaimed Scootaloo. "Is that really you?"

"It sure is, babe. Oh my Celestia! This is so cool!"

"Sorry to break up this reunion, but I didn't really do this so you two can catch up." I said. "I'm going to pull us into the Spirit World. Hold on tight, listen to me, and above all else, trust me. I promise you, I'm not crazy. Just trust me."

"You're the General's kid. I trust you with my life. Then again, you're also Pinkie Pie's daughter, which means that you are very clearly crazy." said Scootaloo. "But I think that might be beneficial for this. Let's get going."

"Okay." I said. I focused intensely on the world on the other side. I felt myself being pulled forward gently, but my body didn't move. A strong sound of wind blew through my ears and I lost all feeling in my body. The world faded from color to gray, then from gray to a different sort of color. Sort of green tinted, like an emerald smoke emitting from everything. Everything looked more or less the same, except a little more…. ethereal. Like nothing was real. The walls were semitransparent, and yet, they were completely solid. I got to my hooves and felt a strange lightness in my bones. I looked onto the floor and watched in a weird fascination as my body fell to the ground, unmoving next to Scootaloo's, before my very eyes. I released Scootaloo's hand and gestured towards Rick and Ana.

"Welcome to the Spirit World." I said as Scootaloo backed away in fear and confusion. "A lot to take in, yes, but we can marvel in it's wonders later. We have to find Suns-"

"No!" shouted Ana, covering my mouth with her palm. It was weird, being touched by the dead. I felt it, but I didn't feel it at the same time, like it was there, but just a fading memory.

"Why are you being so paranoid? This isn't like you." said Scootaloo.

"You've been here for ten seconds, Scootsy. I've been here for ten years. I can tell you that I'm not overreacting." said Ana in fear.

"Why won't you say her name? The Ana I remember feared no living pony."

"Well, she's not living. And I don't even think you can call her a pony anymore."

"What do you call her then?" I asked in curiosity.

"The Demon Princess. The Queen of the Spirit World. Reina De Los Condenados When she's not around, we have other, less legendary names for her." said Rick with a small smile.

"The Stuttering Devil. The Teenage Tyrant." supplied Ana.

"All of these are names for Sunset Shimmer?" I asked.

"No!" shouted Rick and Ana.

POP!

A flash of light exploded and we were thrown back a few feet. Out of the light stepped a unicorn completely cloaked in black. She flipped her hood, revealing a jet-black tiara with 20 emerald-green gems decorating the edge. Each of the gems were swirling with a strange green aura. Her cyan eyes pierced through my soul as she gazed at me angrily.

"You dare speak my name? And you!" she said, angrily pointing at Rick and Ana. "S-s-such disrespect of your queen! Stuttering D-d-devil? T-t-teenage Tyrant? I'm 41 years old!"

"But that stuttering thing is on point." snickered Scootaloo. Sunset Shimmer took a deep sniff then sighed wistfully.

"M-mortals? That means you are the ones I'm l-l-looking for." she said sinisterly. "St-storm, right?"

"Yes. And you must be Sunset Shimmer. My mom told me a lot about you. What do you want?" I said.

"S-silence! I r-r-run this r-r-realm! You are to s-s-speak to me with respect!" she said angrily. "You and S-s-stinkie Pie are going to help me out."

"My mom would never help you! Give her back!" I said angrily.

"Not until you d-deliver this message to S-s-silver Rift. T-t-tell him that I w-w-want Fluttershy's b-b-body!"

"Why do you want that? And, even better question, why would we do that?" asked Scootaloo.

"Why do I w-w-want this? I n-n-need a physical b-body! Somepony without a st-st-st-st-stutter!" stammered Shimmer. "Oh, and you have to help me. If you w-w-want your mom back."

"Where is she?!" I asked angrily. "What did you do with her?!"

"Right here." she said, pointing to centermost gem in the crown. "She'll b-be locked in here until I get that mare's body!"

"Mom?" I asked, stepping forward to touch the crown. Sunset Shimmer held her palm out and projected a wall of bright teal light, stopping me in my tracks.

"No t-touching! Which reminds me; R-rick and Ana think it's okay to disrespect their queen? Time to pay!" she said, snapping her fingers. Rick and Ana burst into green smoke. The smoke flew over to Sunset Shimmer's crown and reformed into two emeralds, both of which set themselves in her headpiece.

"What did you do to them?" asked Scootaloo angrily.

"I put them away for safe-keeping. If you get me that body, I may let them out before this millennium is over." said Sunset Shimmer, completely stutter-free. "That's so much better, don't you think? I'll give you guys a few hours to deliver Fluttershy. I'll see you mortal scum later. Ciao!" POP!

She burst into light and disappeared from view.

* * *

Scootaloo

Sunset Shimmer disappeared, taking Rick, Ana and Pinkie with her. Storm's mane flattened and faded slightly in color, a sure sign that she was depressed. I felt terrible for a few reasons. Ana and Rick were gone, we had to find a way to get Pinkie back, and to top it off, Applebloom was probably blowing up my phone, trying to get a hold of me. Oh, and it was sort of my fault.

"Storm? You okay?" I asked, touching her on the shoulder.

"What makes you think I'm not?" she asked glumly.

"Your mane." I said simply.

"Look, I love a good makeover as much as the next mare, but is now really the time?" she asked, grabbing my hand. "Come on. We have to get some weapons."

"Weapons? For what? And how?" I asked as she led me out of the room. Storm dragged me into the next room to the right, Pinkie and War's bedroom, decorated in a weird blend of bright pink hearts and death-metal posters. Storm paused in front of the bed with her hands on her hips, thinking of something. Without warning, she slammed her face onto the floor. She dragged her head across the ground until her nose stopped on a particular spot. Her head snapped up and she jumped into the air, landing on her butt, right on the spot where her nose was. A large wardrobe rose from the ground, pushing her up about 5 feet, to where her head was touching the ceiling.

"What in all of Equestria is that?" I asked. Without answering, she slammed her heels against the doors of the wardrobe. They swung open, revealing the most amazing armory I've ever seen, even better than the one in the Crystal Empire. The wardrobe was huge on the inside, going on for yards, but on the outside, it was a normal size. All along the walls was what I would describe as an enabler to my unhealthy sword addiction. Every type of sword ever was in this wardrobe.

"You like?" she asked, flipping down to meet me.

"Uh, yeah! This is a swordmaster's wet dream!" I said excitedly. "Everything! Scimitars, sabres, claymores! Rapiers and short-swords and broad-swords and katanas!"

"Pick one." she said, walking into the depths of the wardrobe. I stepped forward and skimmed through the many delicious looking weapons and grabbed my sword of choice, an epee. Not a practice one for fencing, but a true, sharp-bladed one. I grabbed a sheath, stepped out and swiped the sword through the air a few times, just to give it a test. Ooh, I loved the feel of a new blade in my hand!

"How is this happening?" I asked. "Aren't we in the Spirit World?"

"We sure are." said Storm, emerging from the closet. In her hands was a large war hammer, grey steel and ornately carved with swirls and flames, from the hilt all the way to the head. Unlike the General's hammer, which had a squared head, this one was rounded and had strange runes all along it.

"If we're still in the Spirit World, how are we able to carry these?" I asked.

"We're alive, so we still have some sort of effect on the world of the living. If someone walked in, they'd see a sword and hammer floating in mid-air." she answered with a smile. "These are no good to us right now. I have to pull them through."

"Well? Get on with it." I said impatiently. "I want to get this done."

"Okey-dokey-lo-. Well, you know the rest." she said grimly. "I'll bring Loki first." She closed her eyes and began to hum a short little tune. The hammer darkened into jet-black ebony and fell heavier in Storm's hand.

"Loki? Is that what it's called?" I asked, handing her my blade. She nodded and accepted the sword, humming the entire time. A similar thing happened with my sword, it became darker and bolder and heavier. She passed my epee back and I looked at her for directions.

"What now?" I asked.

"Sunset Shimmer!" she yelled, startling me.

POP!

Light flashed and Sunset Shimmer appeared, looking very annoyed. She surveyed us in slight confusion then, when she got a grasp on the situation, began to chuckle a little.

"Do you guys still not understand how this works?" she asked. "Whenever my name is said, I hear it. It looks like you gave yourselves away. Why don't you put down the weapons and go get me a body?"

"Why don't you bite me?" I said, pointing my sword at her throat.

"Oh, you're adorable." she said, lowering my sword with her finger. "Calm down. I remember watching you on T.V. when Celestia banished me to Earth. You had such a temper."

"Well, when I took my trips to Earth, I watched some of the show as well. I don't recall you having s-such a b-b-bad st-stutter." I mocked.

"That's because I didn't have one until I died!" she said angrily. "It's all because of that Fl-fl-fl-fluttershy! G-g-g-goddamnit! It's b-b-back!"

"What exactly did she do to you?" asked Storm.

"I s-surrendered. I w-w-went to her asking for f-f-forgiveness. I dropped my w-weapons and c-cuffed myself, and she m-m-murdered me in c-cold blood!"

"That doesn't explain your stutter." I said.

"The w-way she killed me. She couldn't d-do it h-h-humanely, no, n-not a b-bullet in the head, n-not a sword through the heart, n-n-none of that! She st-st-stomped my head in over and over! It must have affected me m-m-mentally."

"Then how come you were able to stop?" I asked.

"When I steal a soul with the crown, I can sp-speak normally for a while. Usually until I g-get upset, then it j-j-just falls back in. I d-don't know why. 18 years looking and n-n-no other s-solution."

"Look, it's been fun talking to you, but I didn't walk through dimensions just to have a chat." said Storm, mane deflating even more. "I'll give you one more chance to give up my mom, or else I'll show you what happens when you mess with the daughter of War."

"Oh, y-you crack me up, Storm! As if you c-c-could even touch me!" she laughed. "I'm g-going back to C-canterlot. If you want to be smart f-for once, then b-bring me Fl-fluttershy. If n-not, then feel free to f-fight me, the Queen of the D-dead, and d-d-die. Either way, I have a b-b-b-body."

"I don't think you understand, Shimmer." said Storm, stepping forward with a strange ferocity in her eyes. "I'm giving you a chance to walk away scott-free. I'm being really, very nice right now. My mom always taught me that smiles and laughs would solve anything, that if you were nice to somepony, they'd be nice to you. But then, my dad taught me that, sometimes, people need a good skull-bashing, especially if they mess with family. Give. My. Mom. Back."

"Yeah, l-like I said: Fluttershy for St-stinkie Pie. That's a f-f-fair trade." she said. She snapped her fingers and disappeared once again. Storm's mane straightened and deflated completely, becoming a very faded blue and grey waterfall of hair pouring over her eyes. She raised Loki high above her head and slammed it into the ground angrily, cracking the floor.

"Relax!" I said. "We'll get her back!"

"We sure are!" said Storm, pushing her mane out of her eyes. "We're going to get her back and we're going to free all of the souls in her crown and then we're going to beat the ever living snot out of Sunset Shimmer!"

"And then we'll go out for milkshakes." I said, semi-sarcastically. Her mane instantly exploded into a cotton-candy puff, bright and vibrant again and a kooky smile spread across her face.

"Really?!" she asked excitedly.

"No, not re-." I began. "Yeah. If we get out of here with your mom, I'll buy you all the milkshakes you can drink."

"You sure about that? I can drink a lot of milkshakes." she said.

"I'll race you to see who can drink the fastest." I said with a smirk. "But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"Okay. Let's go get my mom back, yeah?"

"Alright. Time to catch a train."


	5. Shadows of Life

Storm

I put Loki against my back, feeling the leather strap itself to me, and grabbed Scootaloo's hand. I led her out of the room, down the stairs and out of the shop. I looked around in confusion, shocked by how there were no dead ponies around. Not a soul was wandering around Ponyville. Normally, I would see a couple dozen wandering around but today, nopony.

"Where is everypony?" asked Scootaloo.

"Good question. We can't see any living ponies because I made sure to filter them out. I guess I did too much." I said. I closed my eyes and focused on the Spirit World. When I opened them, there was one or two ponies strolling around. They walked right past us, not acknowledging the fact we were there.

"Huh? I opened it up so that I could see everypony who died in the past 500 years. How many do you see?" I asked.

"Um… two. And they just walked past." answered Scootaloo. "Why?"

"Another good question. I don't really know. They're just not here. I think that means that she has them." I answered. "Hm. Stay on your toes, Scootaloo. I don't think they went on vacation."

"Good point." said Scootaloo, brandishing her new sword. "What do we do now?"

"Like you said: We're getting on the train. She said she was going to Canterlot, so that's where we're going as well. She probably has quite a few tricks up her sleeve, so stay frosty."

"Stay frosty?" she asked, shaking her head. "What are you, an army captain?"

"My dad says it a lot. It sounds…. cool!" I said, laughing at my own hilarious pun.

"You are something else." said Scootaloo, shaking her head in mock-disapproval.

"Hey, Scootaloo?" I said.

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry for snapping on you earlier. You know, for breaking your promise. I get that you just wanted to have a moment with her. It's not your fault."

"It totally is, though. I screwed up." she said, placing her hands on the back of her head. "I'll make it up to you as soon as we get out of here."

"Then I guess we should work our hardest at getting out of here." I said, pausing at the train station. I grabbed Scootaloo's right hand and closed my eyes. I felt a soft vibration as I used my powers to partially filter in the living. When I opened my eyes, the station was filled with dark gray silhouettes of ponies.

"Whoah. Are these guys dead?" asked Scootaloo.

"Nope. These are the living. This is what you would look like to Rick and Ana if you were still in the Physical Plane." I answered. "Now we just have to wait for a train." No sooner had I said that did a train fly into the station. The doors flew open and several ponies stepped in. I went to follow them when Scootaloo grabbed me by the shoulder.

"How do we know if this is the right train?" she asked.

"Hm. Another good question. You're full of these, aren't you?" I asked, pulling free and stepping into the train.

"You didn't answer me." she said, following me and sitting down in one of the pink seats. She tried to stay away from the living, but the train was full of a couple dozen people, making it hard to avoid them.

"I have a sort of sixth sense about these types of things. Seven if you count my…." I began. "Well, how about that? I've had this power for years and I've never named it."

"Wait, if this is your seventh, what's your sixth?"

"My Stormy Sense. I can predict minor occurrences, like the weather, and I can tell the exact time based off of the sun. For example, right now it's 39 seconds past the 43rd minute of the 11th hour of Saturday, March 22nd, 2037 . We're going to have rain in two days that will last for 39 minutes and 11 seconds." I listed.

"That's not a power, that's the pegasi's work schedule."

"I meant on Earth. In Dallas, Texas. Pegasi can't interact with Earth weather." I said, twirling around on the safety pole. "Ooh! How about "The Sight"? Does that sound good?"

"Seems alright. Storm, possessor of The Sight. Cool." she said, checking her phone. "Ergh! No bars!"

"We're in another dimension! Even if you did have service, just think about that long-distance calling bill!"

"True enough. Still, I want to text Bloom. I know I've missed a ton of messages." she said, twirling her mane absentmindedly.

"Mortals." growled a deep, scary voice. We looked around for the source, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"You heard that too, right?" I asked. "Sometimes I think I really am a schitzo."

"No. Well, you probably are, but that voice was real." answered Scootaloo, getting to her hooves and drawing her sword. "Something is here. Something dangerous and ghostly."

"I think you might be right." I said, grabbing Loki by it's handle. The magical leather straps unravelled itself from my chest and sucked back into the handle. Four silhouettes walked in from the next train car, although these looked quite different. Unlike the others, grey and featureless, these were jet-black with crimson lights where the eyes should be. I closed my eyes and filtered out the living. When I opened them, all of the shadows, save for those four, were gone.

"Mortals." growled one. "The queen gave you orders and you ignored them. Now we will kill you and give your bodies to the queen."

"Ah. I have a few reasons why you should totally not do that." I said.

"Only a few?" asked Scootaloo rhetorically.

"Yes, and I will be sure to list them all as soon as I do this!" I raised Loki high above my head and slammed it down onto onto the lead one's head. It fell to the ground as another jumped at me.

"Way to go, Storm." said Scootaloo, stabbing one in the arm. "I totally did not need a warning."

"Sorry." I apologized, stepping back towards her. "Who exactly are you guys?"

"We are the Shadows." answered the leader.

"That's all good and well, but who are you? Or rather, who were you? Before you died." They faltered for a moment as it got back to it's feet, apparently confused by my question.

"We… are the Shadows." he repeated.

"Yes, but what's your name?"

"We are… the Shadows." he said confusedly.

"We don't have time to talk to broken records." said Scootaloo, pointing her sword at the leader. "Let's get rid of these guys, shall we?"

"No! They're just confused!" I said, blocking the Shadows with my arms. "I can help them!"

"Help us?" asked the lead Shadow. "Help us what?"

"I can help you remember who you are." I said, turning to face them. "I do it all the time. Sometimes, the dead have difficulty remembering their lives. Would you like that?"

"We… would like that… very much." he growled.

"Okay. Just come here." I said, reaching forward to touch his chest. I closed my eyes and felt a strange heat building in my palm. A faint buzzing sound emitted from nowhere and two beams of white light erupted from my eyes. I gazed into the Shadow's eyes and felt it begin. Images of his life flew through my eyes. I saw flashes of the man he used to be: An architect, one of the ones who helped design the Rift Metro stations. He had two kids and a… husband. Interesting. I caught a vision of his death. He got into a terrible car crash that killed him and his family. Poor guy. Still didn't have what I needed. I delved through his memories a little more, searching for the golden word to set him free. I heard whispers of past conversations he had.

"Don't do it…." I heard. "Please! You've had too much to drink Nathan!" There!

"You are Nathan." I said. At the utterance of his name, the Shadow, Nathan, burst into light. The darkness from him faded until he regained a normal, human skin tone. He was very toned in complexion and he had very pretty blue eyes. His short, smooth black hair was done up in a faux hawk style and his face was covered in a faint stubble. He was dressed in a plain black v-neck and denim shorts, with basketball sneakers on his feet.

"My name is Nathan!" he cried, voice gruff and authoritative. "I remember! My name is Nathan!"

"It worked!" I panted, collapsing into a nearby seat. "That was exhausting! I hope you can remember their names, because I don't think I can do it twice."

"Of course I do." he said. He walked over to one of the Shadows and touched him on the face.

"This is ridiculous." said Scootaloo. "I didn't know you could do that."

"All you have to do is say their names and they'll return to normal." I told Nathan. "Then you guys can spend your eternity together in the Spirit World."

"Thank you." said Nathan. He hugged the Shadow and begin to cry. "I'm so sorry Dameon." The Shadow's darkness faded to show the image of a black man with a black afro and bright gray eyes. He had on a red hoodie and black skinny jeans and he looked quite shocked.

"Nate!" he said, hugging his husband. "You're alive!"

"Er… Not quite." I said. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you guys are dead. You four are dead and this is the Spirit World."

"Oh. How?" asked Dameon.

"Please forgive me." said Nathan. "I killed you and the kids. I crashed the car and we all died. I'm so sorry."

"Of course I forgive you. I'm sure Jeff and Stacy will too. Where are they?" asked Dameon.

"Right behind you." I said, pointing to the last two Shadows. "Touch them and say their names. They'll return to normal."

POP!

Sunset Shimmer appeared in the car with a new crown, this one with no emeralds in it. She surveyed the area, then sighed in disappointment.

"My Sh-shadows have f-f-failed me." she said. "Oh w-w-well. I n-n-needed souls anyw-way." She snapped her fingers and they burst into green smoke. Four green gems formed in Sunset Shimmer's headpiece and she inhaled deeply.

"Oh, so much better. I just love the sound of my own voice." she said sinisterly. "How about you?"

* * *

Scootaloo

Sunset Shimmer was making me angrier and angrier each time I saw her ugly orange face. She stole Nathan and Dameon then began to laugh maniacally.

"Give them back!" I shouted, pointing my sword at her throat.

"You continue to point that sword at me, yet you fail to realise three main points." said Shimmer, lowering my sword with her index finger. "Those being that A: You don't scare me, B: You would never kill me and, my personal favorite, C: Even if you did, where would I go? I'm already dead!"

"Why did you take them?" asked Storm.

"I needed souls. Why else would I take them?" she asked.

"Maybe you're prejudiced!" I said sensitively. I always got touchy on this subject.

"What is this? A LGBT rally?" mocked Shimmer. "As if I had time to worry about something petty like who's sleeping with who."

"Well, if you don't care, then why have you only taken gays and lesbians?" I asked.

"What are you talking about? I stole Stinkie Pie, and she's not gay." replied Shimmer, taking a seat. "Like I said, I have bigger things to worry about. I honestly don't understand why people get their panties in a bunch over things like this. Not just humans, ponies too. How can they be so dumb?"

"Are we really having this discussion?" asked Storm as her mane deflated again. "Where are the other gems? Like the one with my mom in it?"

"Canterlot Castle. Turns out that 22 is the capacity. You'll get her back, so long as you deliver me Fluttershy."

"Why Fluttershy?" I asked. "There has to be somepony else, anypony else you can use."

"Of course. I could use any living body, so long as their souls are in the Spirit World. I could use you two if I wanted, which is my back-up plan." she said, running her hand through her mane. "Seems I'll have to go through with it, since you look like you're ready to fight."

"We don't want any trouble, Shimmer." I said, raising my sword again. "I'm sure you don't either. So why don't you just give up your petty little grudge against Fluttershy, give us all the souls you stole, and we can just walk away."

"Petty grudge?" she snickered, lowering my sword again. She was really hard to intimidate. "You would think that. This isn't petty. I have a perfectly good reason to despise her. I have a perfectly good reason to want her dead. You know, you mortals never appreciate life until after you're dead. No one does. Not even I did. I took my life for granted and now I have a chance to make it right. I can get a second chance to be great, so long as I get into a living person's body."

"What do you intend to do if and when you get one?" I asked. "And, to repeat my previous question, why does it have to be Fluttershy?"

"I need Fluttershy, because Fluttershy is the only one who can kill me. Well, her and my old bosses, but I'm sure they're all locked up by now. Oh, and I plan on killing or capturing Twilight Snarkle, you know, which ever I'm in the mood for. Then, Equestria will be mine!"

"That's never going to work. Even if you did kill Princess Twilight, you still have tons of people to get through." said Storm.

"That bitch is p-princess?!" asked Shimmer. "She's on the throne with C-celestia and L-luna?!"

"No. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are dead." I said.

"What?! H-how did this happen?! H-how long?"

"Since before the war ended." I answered. "Chrysalis killed them both a few years after Fluttershy got you."

"H-how could they b-b-be in the Spirit World without me knowing? I would've sensed it, or they would've said s-something that I could pick up. My n-name, or Snarkle's name, or s-s-something!"

"I don't think they're in the Spirit World. Conjure pulled some weird magic and now their consciousnesses are living in Princess Twilight's dreams." explained Storm.

"Ugh! St-stop calling her that! It's n-n-not fair!" said Shimmer, jumping to her hooves angrily. "I'm much better than that little l-l-lavender know-it-all! I should be the one on the throne, n-n-not her! She's n-n-nothing but a st-stupid little f-f-filly!" I raised my sword and slashed at Sunset's right hand. She yanked her hand away, but not quite in time. My blade severed her index finger, cleanly removing it with no blood.

"Watch your mouth when speaking of the princess." I said angrily. "Show some respect!"

"Ow. That h-hurt!" said Shimmer, inspecting the nub where her finger used to be. "Huh. Apparently weapons c-can hurt me. W-weapons from the Physical P-plane, anyway. And it looks like it k-kills for real. B-b-better stay away from those. They'll kill me d-dead."

"Give us the crown and all the gems, Shimmer." said Storm. She twirled Loki around menacingly. "Give it to me and I won't smash your head in. Refuse and… well, I'm the daughter of the two craziest ponies in the universe. Wanna see what I learned from my mommy and daddy?"

"S-stop wasting my t-t-time. The train arrives at the station in a f-few minutes. You have until then t-t-to surrender. If you do, I'll s-spare your f-family from the p-pain that awaits Snarkle."

"Do you give everypony a nickname?" I asked frustratedly.

"No. J-just those b-beneath me. T-twilight Snarkle, Cr-crapple Jack, Stinkie Pie. It's m-my way of letting them kn-know that they're w-worthless." Storm swung Loki with all her might into Sunset Shimmer's left leg. Her leg snapped as if the bone had been broken and Shimmer fell to the ground, crying in pain.

"Stop talking shit about my mom." she said as her mane straightened completely. She placed Loki's head on the tip of Shimmer's nose. "Crown. Gems. Now!"

"Y-you will r-regret that!" said Shimmer. "I w-want to say that I d-didn't want it to come to this, b-b-but that would be a l-lie."

"Crown! Now!" bellowed Storm.

"2 minutes b-before you get to C-canterlot. M-make your choice." said Shimmer, snapping her fingers.

POP!

She disappeared from the train car in a flash of light. I sheathed my epee and looked at Storm with concern. She was getting angrier and angrier with each passing second, and Sunset Shimmer wasn't helping.

"We need a plan." I said.

"I have a plan." said Storm, putting Loki on her back. The magical leather straps bound the hammer to her as she pushed her mane out of her face.

"What is it? Run me through on every detail. Applebloom always tells me I'm good at this sort of thing."

"We go in and explode Shimmer's face." she said, reaching into her mane. As soon as her fingers touched her hair, it burst into it's normal puff. Out of her hair, she pulled a rocket launcher that was almost as tall as me, bright pink, with the words "Party Cannon" etched in the side.

"Where the hell did you get that?" I asked.

"My mom. It was in that wardrobe." she answered, pulling a rocket for it out of her hair. She loaded it just as the train pulled to a stop. "She's gonna regret what she said about my mom. I'm gonna teach her a lesson."

"Let's go, then." I said, headed for the door.


	6. A Battle With The Devil

Storm

The train flew into the station and the doors flew open. I slung my Party Cannon over my shoulder and led Scootaloo off of the train and onto the platform. We stood in the empty streets of Canterlot, psyching ourselves up for the battle.

"You ready?" she asked.

"I guess I have to be." I said. "How are we gonna get in?"

"If we go around back to the castle, beneath the West Tower, there's a trapdoor to the basement that leads straight into the armory. Behind the painting of the Regal Sisters is a pathway leading directly into the throne room." reported Scootaloo.

"How do you know all of that?" I asked.

"Duh. I work here, remember? That's where me and Applebloom go on our breaks."

"You sneak into the basement every time you go on break? To do what?"

"Um… Talk?" she tried, face blushing bright red. "Yeah. We talk and eat lunch."

"Yeah, I'm sure you do." I said, rolling my eyes skeptically.

"Don't get fresh, little filly. What would your mother say?"

"Eep! Don't tell my parents!" I squealed.

"I'm just joking around. We should really get going." she said. "Can you fly with all of that weight?"

"Yuppers. Just show me where to go." I said, pushing myself into the air. "So, let's get on that grind." Scootaloo flapped her wings and rose into the air by my side. She gave me a little smile then pushed forward to the castle. I took the time to form a legitimate plan. As cool as it sounded, "Exploding Shimmer's face" is less of a plan, more of a vague goal.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Scootaloo.

"Well, for a minute I was making a plan, but now I'm thinking about lemon meringue pie." I said, scratching my head. "Ooh, I could go for a slice!"

"Do you have a condition of some sort?" she asked.

"ADHD. Why I'm affected in the Spirit World is beyond me." I said. "I didn't know that a mental defect could affect your soul."

"So, during this entire ordeal, your head has just been filled with random crap?"

"More or less. Most of the time I think of random desserts and baking recipes. It tends to help Mom out with the shop."

"You are one strange little girl." chuckled Scootaloo. I felt the hair on the back of my neck stick up and I had a strange feeling that something bad would happen.

"Did you feel that?" I asked, knowing Scootaloo's answer.

"Feel what?" she asked. Before I could answer, a black blur shot through the air, brushing my nose and cutting the front of my mane off.

"That." I answered, pulling Loki off of my back. The Shadow dropped back down quickly and slashed at me with it's clawed hand. I blocked it with the shaft of my hammer. I pushed him off, then swung Loki into it's neck. It flew across the sky as I darted away, grabbing Scootaloo's hand along the way.

"We have to get out of here." I said. Scootaloo pointed forward a few meters to the castle, then dragged me across the sky.

"Why don't you just fix this guy like you did Nathan and Dameon?" she asked.

"He's not like them. He's too foregone. There's nothing left of his former self." I said. We approached the stone towers of Canterlot Castle. We dove under the Western Tower and opened up the trapdoor.

"How can you tell?" she asked. The Shadow reappeared in the sky, flying straight at us with it's claw extended. I clenched my stomach and waited with Loki held above my head. As his claws buried themselves in my stomach, I brung my hammer down on his head. The Shadow's head made a sinister cracking sound and it broke away from it's arm, falling to the ground.

"Because it didn't identify himself as a Shadow. No name or intent. Plus, I couldn't sense any memories." I said, yanking the claw out of my midsection. "Yowza! That sort of stings!"

"Why did you do that?!" asked Scootaloo, ushering me up through the trapdoor. "Are you insane?!"

"I had to make sure that he wouldn't come back, so I let him stab me so I would remove it's arm. It didn't hurt that much. I prepared myself and clenched up my stomach muscles like Houdini used to do when he let people punch him in the stomach." I said, surveying the basement for the first time. The concrete room was about the size of my bedroom. There were a few crates along the wall and a lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. At the wall directly across from us was a doorway with a staircase leading upstairs.

"Do you think it'll come back?" she asked.

"Nah. She knows that it failed by now, which means that she knows that we're here, so what's the point in sending her henchmen for us? She thinks we're playing right into her hands."

"Are we?"

"Oh, of course. But she doesn't need to know this. Just walk in and make it sound like we have a plan." I said, pulling my Party Cannon off of my shoulder.

"I can hear you!" called Sunset Shimmer's from nowhere, yet everywhere. "I know you're here and you don't have a clue what to do, so just come up here and die with dignity."

"Crap. Well, there goes the element of surprise." I sighed. "Let's just go."

"Yeah, I guess we don't have a choice." replied Scootaloo. "Can we stop a minute first?"

"For what?"

"Er… a prayer." she said sheepishly. "A quick prayer."

"I never took you as a religious person, Scootaloo."

"It's a force of habit, I guess. When she was alive, Princess Luna had a prayer we'd say before every battle. I won't be able to do the entire ritual, since we don't have any water, but it's better than nothing." I reached into my mane and pulled out a bottle of water. I chucked it to her and gave her a smile.

"Go for it." I said. Scootaloo popped open the bottle and poured a little on her left hand. She took her wet fingers and drew a crescent over her heart.

"May the sun rise for Us at the start of the next day and the moon set at the end of the next night. May Our blades be sharp and swing swift, and may We die with honor, protecting the harmony of the universe, protecting Our brothers and Our sisters, and protecting Our Princesses, of the sun and of the moon." she recited, sprinkling water around her in a circle. "May Our enemies fall before Us, nay, may they surrender and make peace with Us. Amen."

"Wow. That was… amazing, to say the least." I said. "Princess Luna must've been amazing."

"She sure was. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have my Cutie Mark." she said.

"No time for reminiscing." called Shimmer. "I'm not a patient mare."

"Neither am I." I said, gripping Loki tightly. "Let's move out."

* * *

Scootaloo

I felt a fire grow in my chest as I finished my prayer. Storm was right. I'm not very religious at all, but Princess Luna always made me and the other swords-ponies do it. She said that it gave you inner strength to do what you needed to do. She was right, because when I was done, I was pumped. I felt like I could wrestle…. a small truck! I don't know how, but if a truck came up to me and started talking smack, I could totally handle it!

"Let's go!" I said excitedly. I ripped my sword from it's sheath and swung it around impatiently. "I'm tired of this mare."

"That prayer really got you amped, didn't it?" asked Storm, leading me up the stairs. "I've never seen you this pumped."

"I never tell anypony this, but after Luna died, the only thing that kept me sane were Applebloom and that prayer. It always kept me moving." I said as we reached the landing. "How about you? You got anything that inspires you?"

"In a battle, all you need to make you fight is a little hot blood and the knowledge that it's more dangerous to lose than to win." she answered, leaning against the wall. "It's something my dad says. Whenever I need to fight, I recite that in my head. It gets me going. I must've said it to myself about eight times since we got here."

"I think that between our own personal mantras, we can demolish her." I said, walking over to the painting on the back wall. It depicted the Regal Sister lying on a cloud with their fingers touching and with smiles on their faces. Beneath them was a large lake with the reflection of Princess Twilight's Cutie Mark on it's surface. I pulled it off the wall and placed it onto the floor. In the spot where it used to be was a tunnel, uniformly drilled into the wall. It led up a slight incline all the way up to the throne room.

"Is this it?" asked Storm.

"Yeah. Walk up this slope and it goes right behind the throne." I said, starting up the passageway. Storm followed close behind me, hammer in one hand, bazooka in the other. Here I was with a little sword. I felt underprepared. But, hey, you make do with what you've got. After a minute, we reached what appeared to be a dead end. I balled up my fist and knocked three times. A panel of concrete slid to the right, revealing a doorway just large enough for me and Storm to shimmy through. We ducked through it and slid through the space between the throne and the wall. I went to the right side while Storm went to the left. We emerged on the other side and pointed our weapons at Sunset Shimmer, who was sitting on the throne with her fingertips touching and her legs crossed. She raised a single eyebrow and gave me a look of amusement.

"Look what the cat dragged in." she said, adjusting her crown. I noticed that it now had 8 gems in it, meaning that she had stolen four more souls.

"Give it up, Shimmer." said Storm, nudging her forehead with the rocket launcher.

"You guys simply don't get it, do you?" laughed Shimmer, getting to her hooves. "You have nothing to bargain with. I have you right where I want you, and nothing is going to change that."

"How are you standing? Didn't Storm smash your knee into rubble?" I asked.

"I'm the strongest unicorn in the universe. I can heal a broken leg." she said. "I almost had time to replace my finger."

"I don't care how strong you think you are, we're still going to beat you and revive our friends." I said.

"Er… not exactly." said Storm.

"What do you mean? We are bringing Rick and Ana back, right? And Nate and Dameon?"

"We can't."

"Why not?" I asked.

"Are you really having a chat?" asked Shimmer. "I can kill you both in an instant."

"Then do it. I dare you." said Storm.

"So be it." Sunset Shimmer jumped high into the air, many feet over our heads and landing in front of us. She jumped and flipped backwards, landing a few yards away from us. She ripped off her cloak, revealing her one-sleeved, skintight black bodysuit. Around her neck was multiple pendants, about 20, each with a smoking emerald at the end of the golden chain. Wrapped around each of her wrists were several feet of black chains, coiled around for storage purposes. They slowly unravelled from her, dropping down so that she could swing them around intimidatingly.

"Chains? That's your weapon?" I asked.

"These are The Chains of the Damned. They're nothing to mess around with. Wanna see why?" she asked. Without waiting for our answer, she flung the one in her left hand right at me. The chain flew at me at lightning-fast speed. I ducked down and felt it wrap around my left wing. Sunset Shimmer smiled evilly as she slowly dragged the chain back to her, ripping off my wing and taking it with it. I watched in horror as my orange feathered wing darkened into smoke which reformed at the end of the chain as… more chain.

"What did you do?" I asked angrily. I think what made me the angriest is the fact that it didn't hurt. I just felt a sort of… void. Like I was missing something.

"I binded your wing to my Chains." she laughed. "I told you it was nothing to mess with."

"This ends now, Shimmer!" said Storm, aiming her rocket launcher at our enemy. The Queen of the Dead's smile fell significantly as Storm fired it.

BOOM!

The rocket flew at Sunset Shimmer's head. She jumped to the left and flung her chain backwards after the missile. The chain wrapped itself around the rocket's middle, slowing it to a stop.

"What goes around comes around." said Shimmer, smile growing larger again. She twirled the chain, with the rocket still attached, in a circle over her head. She flicked her wrist forward, sending the explosive right back at us. Not missing a beat, Storm grabbed Loki off of her back and swung it up, launching the rocket through the roof and into the clouds, where it exploded harmlessly.

"Not bad." laughed Shimmer, zooming at us with her chains flying. They seemed to move independently, without her command, but followed every little move she made as well. She whipped the left chain at Storm and let the other rise up and come down to smack me on the head. Storm let the chain wrap around her hammer as I shoved my sword into one hole, flipped my sword down and stabbed it into the ground. Storm yanked Loki towards her, dragging Shimmer into a headbutt. I reared my right hoof back and swung it into the side of Shimmer's head. I pulled my sword out of the chain and kicked her in the stomach.

"Nice work." I said, kicking Shimmer again.

"You're not out of the woods y-yet." said Shimmer, teleporting behind us. "You m-made a t-terrible mistake, m-mortals! I still have one m-m-more trick up my sleeve."

"I know that I'm never supposed to ask this, but what might that be?" asked Storm.

"L-let me show you why the call me The Demon Princess." growled Sunset Shimmer. Bright blue light enveloped her as she rose from the ground. Tears fell from her eyes, steaming before they got too far down her face. Her skin grew rose red, her ears extended into a point and tattered wings unfolded from her back. Her sclera became black and her iris became even brighter cyan.

"What in Equestria?!" I exclaimed, backing away in fear.

"Oh, this hurts like hell!" cried Shimmer. "It burns! It burns so bad!" Slowly, the light died down and Sunset Shimmer lowered to the ground.

"What are you?" asked Storm.

"The Demon Princess! And now, I'm going to feast on your soul!" she growled, growing a ball of fire in her hands. "Say goodbye!"

"No!" shouted Storm. She grabbed Loki around the shaft like a javelin and threw it at Sunset Shimmer. The hammer connected with the centermost pendant, shattering it (And probably Shimmer's sternum). Shimmer backed up in agony, falling on her butt in pain. The emeralds flew off of her crown, clattering onto the floor.

"Die!" she growled, throwing the fire. It dissipated after flying a mere two feet. She whined pitifully as green smoke flew from the gem, forming into… Pinkie Pie.

"Storm!" she cried, rushing over to her daughter. "Look out! Sunset Shimmer is here!"

"I know, Mom. We beat her already." answered Storm. "Me and Scootaloo."

"You d-didn't beat me! I am immortal!" sobbed Shimmer. "You will n-never d-defeat m-m-me!"

"Shut up." I said, tossing Storm the pendants and the gems from Shimmer's crown one by one. She smashed each and every one with Loki, shattering them and returning the souls. Rick, Ana, Nate, Dameon, a teenage girl and boy, and countless other souls reformed into the Spirit World, free of Shimmer's spell. Storm raised Loki above her head and brought it down on the end of the Chain. It shattered into smoke, which flew over to my back and reformed into my wing. Nice. I flexed it tenderly then advanced towards Shimmer.

"Y-y-y-y-y-you c-c-c-c-c-can't d-d-d-d-do this!" stammered Sunset Shimmer. She rushed forward and whipped at my leg with her chain. I raised my hoof and kicked her in the face, sending her crown flying. Storm picked it up and tossed it to me.

"I think I've heard enough from you." I said, placing the crown onto my head. I inhaled deeply and snapped my fingers. Sunset Shimmer burst into green smoke and formed into an emerald in the middle of the crown.


	7. The Physical Plane

Storm

Scootaloo tossed me the crown, which I caught easily. I twirled it around then passed it to Ana.

"Here. Find a leader who's not totally loco, will ya?" I said. Ana took the crown uneasily, then handed it to Rick.

"Here, dummy. Round up all the spirits and get a vote on who should lead." she said.

"Why me?" asked Rick.

"You're the one with the magic. Make it happen, stupid!"

"In any case, we have to go." I said, hugging both of them. "Good bye guys. I'll see you later."

"Aren't they coming with us?" asked Scootaloo. Uh-oh. I knew this would happen.

"No. I can't bring them." I answered.

"Why not?" asked Scootaloo.

"They're dead. We can't bring them back. They don't belong in the Physical Plane."

"So? We don't belong in the Spirit World, yet here we are. Let's just pull them with us!" she said angrily.

"We can't. Even if we had bodies for them, I wouldn't be able to put their souls back. Souls are temperamental things. Not just anyone can manipulate them."

"But you can! You channeled a spirit into your body before! That's how we got here in the first place!" she shouted.

"Yes, but that was different. It was my body and it only lasted a few minutes. I can't put a soul into an incompatible body with the perfect spiritual balance it needs." I said. "I'm sorry, I really am. There's nothing I can do."

"Besides, I don't want to come anyway." said Ana. "Other than Rick, you're the only reason I have for living. And I can't expect you to leave Applebloom for me, so what's the point?"

"You know about me and Applebloom?" said Scootaloo.

"How can I not? But that's okay. Just go back to her. Promise me that you'll go back to her and that you'll treat her good." said Ana.

"B-but…" said Scootaloo, trailing off.

"Listen, Scootaloo." said Mom. "She's dead, and there's nothing we can do about it. We have to learn to get over it."

"But it's so hard." sobbed Scootaloo. "It's making me cry again! I've cried more times today than the day Luna died! It's making me feel like a cry-baby bitch and I can't stand it!"

"It's okay to cry every now and again, Scootaloo." said Mom. "There's always going to be good things and bad things in life. The good things won't always make the bad things better, but the reverse is also true; The bad things won't always make the good things worse or unimportant."

"It's okay, Scootsy." said Ana, hugging Scootaloo one last time. "Just let me go."

"I'll never forget you, Ana." she said.

"Of course you won't. I won't forget you either, love." said Ana. "Now, get your flank out of here."

"Good bye, Ana." sniffed Scootaloo, headed for the secret entrance. "Storm, Pinkie, can we go now?"

"Yes. Let's go, Mom." I said, grabbing my mother's hand. "Good bye guys. Good luck with everything." I lead my mom over to the exit and knocked on it three times, opening it. We slid on our butts all the way down the tunnel where we fell out the other side. I discarded my rocket launcher and grabbed my mom under her arm. We dropped through the trapdoor and flew down into the streets.

"Are you okay?" I asked as our hooves touched the floor.

"I'm very, very, very confused." she said, scratching her head. "More than usual."

"Okay, well, I'll explain. You know my imaginary friends?"

"Yeah."

"Well, they're dead. I can see into the Spirit World, this place we're in now. Sunset Shimmer possesed me and kidnapped you and was planning on using you as a bargaining chip so that she could have Fluttershy's body. We just beat her and trapped her in the crown."

"So, you don't hallucinate?" asked Mom uneasily. We stopped at the train station and waited for a ride back home.

"Nope. I'm a spirit medium. I always have been. I've kept it a secret because you would really think I was crazy."

"Then why did you take the pills?"

"It made you happy. Besides, the side effects weren't all that bad. Nothing I couldn't deal with." I said. Then, something occurred to me. "Hey, how'd you know it was Shimmer?"

"She's the only person I've ever met who called me 'Stinkie Pie'. I try not to make enemies, but she hated me for some reason. She hated all of us."

"You should have just told me. I would've believed you." said Mom.

"I just didn't want to take that risk." I said as the train into flew into the station. "Come on, Scootaloo. It's time to go." Scootaloo remained silent as we walked into the train car. The ride back to Ponyville was quite awkward, as Scootaloo managed to stay silent the entire time. The only break in silence was from my mom.

"Where is everypony?" asked Mom.

"We can't see the living right now and all of the dead went into hiding." I answered. "I should probably filter them back in." I closed my eyes and felt the familiar vibrations of the filtering process. I opened my eyes and watched the grey silhouettes form in front of my eyes. There were about six in this train car, two across from us, one to the left and three to the right.

"What the hay?" exclaimed Mom. "Are these what we look like to dead ponies?"

"Yup. I can see them like normal, though. Which reminds me." I said. "You can't tell Dad."

"Uh, yeah, I can." laughed Mom. "We have to tell Robby about this! This is so cool!"

"No! We can't tell him!" I cried. "He's not going to take it like you did!"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that the only reason you're not freaking out is because you experienced it firsthand. You know I'm telling the truth because you saw it. Dad is going to think we both lost our marbles, so please promise that you won't tell him. Or anypony else!" Without answering, my mom reached into her hair and pulled out a cupcake, which she quickly slammed into her left eye.

"Pinkie Promise." she said, wiping the frosting off and licking it.

"Whew. That's a relief. Now we just have to get home before Dad."

* * *

Scootaloo

We pushed open the door to Sugar Cube Corner at 6:30. Standing in the middle of the front room was a single silhouette, just tall enough to be the General. Uh-oh. Storm led me and Pinkie upstairs to her room, where our lifeless bodies still sat. She grabbed our hands and closed her eyes in concentration. I felt an odd tugging in my gut and heard a howling wind blow in my ears as I fell towards my body. I blinked hard and felt a terrible sharp pain in the back of my head.

"Ow!" I cried, getting up from the floor. I looked around at the room, which had lost it's ethereal green mist. I grabbed Storm's hand and helped her up from the floor. Pinkie jerked up and stretched out her arms, as if stiff from sitting still for too long.

"Ooh, that was uncomfortable!" giggled Storm. "And pretty fun!"

"Sure was!" laughed Pinkie.

"What was fun?" asked War, leaning in the doorway.

"Eep!" cried Pinkie and Storm.

"Well, what was so much fun?" repeated War.

"Er… we were playing pretend." I said. "We were just playing a little game."

"Oh. Okay." said War, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a small sack and tossed it to me. I opened it up and was shocked to see it was filled with bits.

"What's this?" I asked, rubbing my head in pain again.

"I told you I'd pay overtime. Well, here you go. That's 1,000 right there. I'll get you the rest tomorrow."

"The rest? How much did you intend to pay me?" I asked.

"Um… A lot. Like I said, I'll bring the rest the next time I got to Canterlot." he said. I looked at the sack one more time then chucked it back to him.

"Nah. I'm not taking it." I said.

"What? Why?"

"Because I quit."

"What?! You can't quit!" he exclaimed in outrage.

"Not the guard, the foal-sitting. Pinkie doesn't actually need me. She can handle Storm on her own." I said. "And I'm sorry, boss, but no amount of bits is going to make me stay here when I'm not needed." Surprisingly enough, the General sighed and pocketed the cash.

"Fine. Want a ride to the Crystal Empire? Applebloom's at Sweetie Belle's house if you want to go." he said, pulling something else out from his pocket. He threw the wristwatch to me, which I caught and slapped on my wrist.

"This is your enchanted watch?" I asked. "How does it work?"

"Just say the name of where you're headed and it'll teleport you there. Nothing quite like Isaiah's magic, eh?" chuckled War. "Make sure you get it back to me later on, okay?"

"Yep." I said. I gave Storm and Pinkie a little hug and smiled them. "Later, guys."

"Bye, Scootaloo!" said Pinkie. "Don't wait so long to come visit me, okay?"

"See ya, Scootaloo." said Storm.

"9364 Quartz Drive." I said to the watch. An emerald green light surrounded me and after a moment…

POP!

I reappeared in Sweetie Belle's living room, right on her couch, next to my two best friends. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom looked at me in shock, and Sweetie even went as far as to aim her pistol at me.

"What the what?!" she squealed, lowering her gun. "Where did you come from?!"

"I just got back from Sugar Cube Corner. What's up?" I asked, hugging Applebloom and planting a kiss on her cheek.

"How was it?" asked Applebloom. "Did she give ya any trouble?"

"Storm? No. She was great." I said. Just then, a short man with slicked back hair walked in the kitchen.

"Is everything okay, Sweetie? I heard yelling." said Jack. "Oh, brilliant! It's Scootaloo."

"Sup." I said with a smile. "Take a seat, Prince Williams."

"I would appreciate it if you didn't call me that." he chuckled, dropping down next to his filly-friend. "Wotcher."

"Dear Celestia, could you be more British in ten seconds?" I asked.

"We should probably get goin, Scoots." said Applebloom. "Ya know, if we want to have some alone time before ya leave tomorrow."

"Oh, don't worry about that. I'm not going back."

"Why not?"

"I quit. They don't need me, so what's the point of going?"

"And the General was fine with that? What ain't you tellin me?" asked Applebloom.

"Ah'm tellin ya everythin, Ah promise, ma'am!" I said, mocking her accent.

"Ya lyin, Scoots, Ah can feel it."

"Ah'm not, Ah promise missus. Ah swears, Ah am."

"Ah hate when ya do that accent." she said grumpily.

"But I love it when you do yours." I laughed.

"Ya piss me off sometimes, ya know that? Sometimes Ah just want to…"

"What, punch me in the face? Put me in a headlock? Give me a big kiss?" I teased.

"Sometimes all at the same time." she answered, squeezing me in a hug.

"Well, it's been fun, but me and Applebloom have to go." I said, scooping Applebloom off of the couch.

"Why? Ya said that you're schedule is free, didn't ya?" she asked.

"Sure did. I'm free until we have to go to work on Monday." I said.

"Then why are we leaving now?"

"I have a whole weekend to make this up to you. Better start early." I said with a smile.

"Well, we are we goin?" she asked. I leaned in close to the watch and stated my location.

"Somewhere private." I said. Green light enveloped me and Applebloom and we were gone.


	8. Sombra's Bride

Alex

Lord Sombra strapped Contra's corpse to the chair, carefully making sure he was secure. Out of his pocket, he drew a knife, which he handed to me. I looked at him confusedly, unaware of the next phase of the plan.

"What do you wish for me to do?" I asked.

"I need your blood. Stab yourself." he growled.

"Yes, master." I said. I took the knife and plunged it into my left leg. Blood spattered to the floor as I ripped the knife out and stuck it into my leg again. Again and again I stabbed myself in the leg, relishing in the pain, simply because it is what Lord Sombra wanted.

"Once would have been fine." he said, taking the knife from me. "I just needed a bit of blood. Don't you dare pass out, either. I still need you."

"Yes. What are you doing?" I asked, grasping my wound.

"Shut up and watch for a minute and watch." he said, grasping the bloody blade. His horn glowed dark red and a beam flew from it, right in between Contra's eyes. Contra's head fell forward, then shot back up, his eyes wide and blue.

"What the hell? Where am I?" he said. He looked around uneasily then let out a sigh of annoyance. "Ugh. Sombra."

"It's been quite a while, hasn't it?" said my master. "Last time I saw you, you were running off to betray me."

"Is this what this is about? You brought me back from the dead just to punish me for betraying his lordship?" he said, extremely sarcastically.

"Ahem!" I coughed. "Show some respect to Lord Sombra or I will kill you!"

"Oh, hello there, little one. I didn't see you there. Who are you?" he said.

"Alex the Great, Lord Sombra's greatest servant and the reason you're here." I said proudly. "Who the hell are you?"

"Feisty. I like it." he said. "What do you want, Sombra?"

"I need your help." said Lord Sombra.

"What help could I be? I'm dead." said Contra.

"I need you to call for back-up, so to speak. In return, I'll give you immortality. And revenge."

"I'm listening."

"Do what I need and you will have Fluttershy to yourself. Do whatever you want to her. Torture and etcetera."

"What if she dies in the skirmish?"

"Unlikely, but if she does, I have a back-up plan. So what do you say? Help me and redeem yourself? Gain your revenge."

"I don't know." said Contra. "If I die now, I won't return to the Spirit World. I'll be gone forever."

"How's your stutter? Don't you want to get revenge on the one responsible?" Contra seemed to think it over, then let out a puff of breath.

"Okay. I'm in." he said, looking down at his restraints. "Let me out?"

"Alex. Release her." said Lord Sombra.

"Her?" I asked, ripping at the leather.

"You couldn't get me something better looking than this?" asked Contra.

"You're a changeling. Change." said Lord Sombra. Contra looked down at himself and burst into green flames. When they died down, she had changed. She had long red and orange hair and bright cyan eyes. She wore a denim jacket, a short black skirt, and an evil smile.

"What's up, big boy?" she said, stretching out her arms. "I'm back!"

"Excellent." said Lord Sombra. "Alex, this is Sunset Shimmer, an old colleague of mine."

"Hello, Alex. Listen, Sombra, I've had quite a few years to think about something." said Shimmer. "I never said this when I was alive but… I always found you really attractive."

"Hey! Don't you have something to be doing?" I said angrily. Sunset Shimmer looked at me confusedly, then laughed knowingly.

"I see what's happening!" she laughed. "Sorry, girly. I think you're a little too young for his taste."

"Shut up!" I said as my mane frilled up. "I'm going to rip you apart!"

"Alex, stand down. Shimmer has peaked my interest." said my master.

"Did I? Well, what are we doing about it?" asked Sunset.

"Well, if I'm to be ruling Equestria, I'm going to need a queen."

"So, are we an item now?"

"We'll finalize things after the war." said Lord Sombra, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out half of a purple unicorn horn and tossed it to Shimmer.

"Not exactly the engagement ring I've always dreamed about, but I'll take it." said Shimmer. "Where'd you get it?"

"Twilight Sparkle. I got it about week ago. I need you to withdraw something from it. Two somethings actually. In addition to the thousands of souls I'll need."

"If you're saying what I think you're saying, then that is maniacally genius." she laughed. "I love it!"

"Then get on it, Shimmer. Alex and I have to go attend to something. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call her. She's my servant and now she is yours." said Lord Sombra. "Let's go, Alex."

"Yes, master." I said, turning for the door. I stood outside of the door, waiting for my master. He followed me a short second later with a sinister smile on his face.

"I'll call you!" called Shimmer from the room. My master walked away laughing at his own brilliance.

"Ha! We're there! A day or so and my revenge will be ready!" he laughed.

"Wonderful." I said bitterly.

"What is wrong with you?" asked Lord Sombra.

"Nothing." I lied.

"Don't lie to your master! What is wrong with you?"

"Shimmer is what's wrong with me." I said.

"What? What about Shimmer?"

"You deserve better than her."

"Better? Like who?"

"I don't know. Someone more loyal, someone stronger, prettier, someone who's always there for you, someone who's willing to die for you…"

"Are you implying yourself?"

"Well, now that you bring it up, yes." I said.

"You're sixteen. I'm over 10,000 years old. Bit of an age gap." he said. "But who knows? If you do good in this war, I may just reward you."

"Thank you, master." I said with a smile.

"But first, you need to punish yourself for lying to me and for being so rude to my future queen. I want to see 6 inch deep wounds on your stomach and no food until next week."

"Yes, master." I said.

"Ah, what the hell? Feed tomorrow. This is the best possible news! Soon, we take Equestria!" he laughed. "We move out in the morning! Silver Rift's end is nigh! The End of Days cometh!"

"The Darkness approaches." I said excitedly.

* * *

Author's Note: The end of another journey. I hope you enjoyed, and feel free to review and tell me how to do better. Well, thanks for sticking to the end of the story. Farewell!


End file.
